Jakarta – The selection committee for the new leader of the KPK will seek advice from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about prolonging the selection process if it fails to find promising candidates.
The head of the committee, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar, said the committee had yet to decide whether to reopen or prolong the selection process.
"There is a possibility of following the regular selection process of the current four leaders whose tenures will end by 2011," he said, adding that consulting with the President did not mean the President would interfere.
Patrialis emphasized that, "It is better not to choose anyone if there is no qualified person."
Last week, three leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Chandra M. Hamzah, Mochammad Jasin and Haryono Umar met the committee and discussed the selection process. The KPK advised the committee scrutinize each candidate carefully.
"We dare to say no, if there is no competent candidate to sit as leader. It is better than taking the wrong action," Chandra said. He advised the committee to act the same.
Members of the selection committee, lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis and former 2003-2007 KPK executive Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, agreed with Chandra, saying the committee would not select someone who was unqualified.
As of Thursday, 169 people had submitted their applications with only 21 candidates completing their documents. Members of the public who fulfil the criteria, can submit their applications to the secretariat of the selection committee at the ministry. The registration process takes around 21 days and will be closed by June 14.
The committee said that apart from relying on the applications from the public, they had also actively sought candidates from academia, legal institutions, the police, prosecutors' offices and NGOs.
Many people have criticized the selection mechanism and fear that the committee will fail to choose a competent figure because up to now no promising figures have applied for the position. Some applicants are lawyers of people implicated in graft cases, such as Bonaran Situmeang, the lawyer for bribery suspect Anggodo Widjojo.
On Thursday, Partahi Sihombing, Nunun Nurbaeti's lawyer, a businesswoman implicated in a multi-million dollar vote-buying case, also applied for the position.
Emerson Yuntho from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), said the committee had to be firm in scrutinizing people.
The chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs, Benny K. Harman, said it was better not to choose anyone if there was no qualified candidate. The committee refused to comment on this matter.
"Now is not the right time to start to judge the applicants because we will only start to scrutinize the applicants' documents by June 15," Patrialis said. The administration selection process will start from June 15 to 22.
Patrialis also said the selection committee was concerned about the tenure of the new leader even though last week they believed that they would choose one leader to serve for four years.
"There are different perceptions about the tenure among the committee members, as well as among the legislators of Commission III," Patrialis said. (ipa)